A covenant of Love is more powerful than any guilt trip or legislation

Hitting the Mark
Striving for Purity – Part 3

“I made a covenant with my eyesnot to look with lust at a young woman.

When we make our marriage covenants, we are in love with our partners and have a deep desire to keep the covenant. It is love that helps us make and keep the covenant. So, it is with this “covenant with our eyes” that we looked at in yesterday’s devotional. If this covenant is not born out of love, we will soon break the covenant. The New Testament is a covenant of love, not rules and regulations. A covenant of love is more powerful than any guilt trip or legislation. Jesus came to provide a path toward a relationship with God. This relationship is based on love, a love from God to us and our love for Him. It is made possible by the sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross. When we believe in Jesus and invite Him into our lives, we receive His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. It is in that moment that we begin to grow our love for God and the desire to please Him above all else in life.

The Apostle Paul prays for the Ephesian Christ Followers that they might be “rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17-19). This is the critical piece, understanding the love God has for us. We can’t love Him until we truly grasp how much He loves us! Once we grasp God’s love, we will have love for Him! Our covenant to put Him first in our lives will come out of that love and last for the rest of our lives, as we walk in fellowship with Him.

Have you identified where you are in this journey with God? Do you need to start with asking for the power to grasp God’s love for you? God will help you if you seek Him with all your heart.

Father, grant me the power to grasp your great love for me. I want to serve you out of love! In Jesus’ Name, amen.